Chekhov and the Vaudeville: A Study of Chekhov's One-Act PlaysThis book examines the strangely neglected area of Chekhov's one-act plays and the evolution of his comedy techniques. These short pieces, written between 1885 and 1903, reveal many of the comic and distancing effects which are to be found in the major plays. Still frequently performed, they tell us as much about Chekhov's philosophy as his use of theatre, and justify his view of himself as a writer of comedies. Vera Gottlieb describes the playwright's approach to theatre in the light of contemporary Russian traditions: a succinct résumé of French comedy and vaudeville on the Russian stage provides the background for an interesting assessment of the degree of innovation in Chekhov's one-act plays. Russian sources have been used extensively, while an appendix includes new translations of two little-known theatre sketches by Chekhov. This 1982 book is a vital addition to criticism of Chekhov and the Russian stage. |
Contents
Conventions and innovations in Russian comedy | 12 |
ΙΙΟ | 110 |
A conclusion | 188 |
Dishonourable Tragedians | 193 |
A note on vaudeville writers | 200 |
| 217 | |
Other editions - View all
Chekhov and the Vaudeville: A Study of Chekhov's One-Act Plays Vera Gottlieb No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
action actor Alexandrinsky Theatre Andrey Anniversary Anton Chekhov Aplombov ASTROV attitude audience audience's Bortsov Calchas characterisation characters Chebutykin Chekhov wrote Chekhov's plays Cherry Orchard Chubukov comedy of situation comic contemporary conventional creates critics dénouement dowry dramatic Dramatist Dymba effect fact farce farce-vaudeville farcical French Gogol Gusev High Road husband Ibid innovatory irony irrelevant Ivanov Khirin Kuzma Letter to Suvorin Lomov Maly Theatre Masha melodramatic Merchutkina Merik Meyerhold Molière monologue Moscow Moscow Art Theatre motivated Murashkin Natasha night Nikita Nyukhin Nyunin off-stage parody Popova Proposal Quoted realisation Revunov Sabinin satire scene Seagull seen Shipuchin short story Simonov Smirnov Smoking is Bad speech stage Suvorin Suvorin's play Svetlovidov Swan Song Tatyana Repina technique there's Three Sisters Tolkachov Tolstoy Tragic Role Turgenev Uncle Vanya Vakhtangov vaude vaudeville wedding wife Woe from Wit woman writing written YAICHNITSA Yakov Polonsky Zaytsev Zhigalov Zmeyukin